Palm, Kristina

Schilling, Annika

2009 (English)Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)

Abstract [en]

In this paper we present and compare two studies on challenges with organising (for) innovation in service-intensive companies. One of the studies reviews the contribution of previous studies to the understanding of managing and organising innovation in service companies. The other is an explorative interview study focusing on how people working in service-intensive organisation in Sweden reason about innovation and the role of co-workers in the innovation process. In both these studies a common and important theme is the potential tension between formalisation and room for creativity. The purpose of this paper is to problematise and discuss this tension between formalised processes and creativity in the context of service-intensive companies. We identify four aspects worth attention in further studies: 1) How can service-intensive companies find a balance between formalisation and room for creativity when organising for innovation?, 2) How does the manufacturing industry influence the service industry in terms of processes, methods and vocabulary related to organising (for) innovation?, 3) How is individual and collective creativity conceptualised and what difference does this have for the organisation (for) innovation in service-intensive firms? and 4) What happens with innovation when the service delivery process is being formalised?